Solving Abandoned Carts with Facebook CAPI

“You can’t improve something that you can’t measure”, said Liam’s boss, Kai, when he was questioned about the increased CAC on Facebook. Liam expressed that there has been a surge in users declining cookies and using ad blockers on websites, skewing the conversion data for their business.

“Why don’t you use Facebook’s CAPI to tackle this?”, asked Kai.

If you are in Liam’s shoes facing trouble around optimizing your ad targeting, decreasing cost per result or just measuring outcomes more accurately, you need the same advice that Liam received – Use Facebook’s CAPI.

Facebook’s Conversions API (CAPI) is a tool that allows businesses to send customer data from their own servers directly to Facebook. This is in contrast to the traditional method of tracking conversions using the Facebook Pixel, which relies on browser cookies.So you’ll get more accurate tracking of conversions, better optimization, and more control over your data even if ad blockers are set up by the users.

  • When a customer visits a business’s website and takes a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, the business’s server sends a CAPI event to Facebook.
  • CAPI matches the event to the customer’s Facebook profile if one exists.
  • Facebook then uses the event data to measure the performance of ad campaigns and to optimize future campaigns.

A home furnishing brand based out of the US is prepping up for BFCM. They are a successful brand making more than 15 million USD every year. With a presence in both online and offline channels, they are always at the right place at the right time.However, they face a recurring challenge all the time: cart abandonment.Facebook is their primary channel for customer acquisition and they’ve seen great engagement from the people from that channel. However, they see that more than 50% of the people coming from their Meta ads tend to leave the products in their cart. With an AOV of $750, this is making them leave a lot of money on the table.To solve this problem for BFCM, they are experimenting with different things. And one such thing is using Facebook’s CAPI to optimize and increase their conversion on ads.Here’s the exact playbook they used to implement Facebook CAPI to solve for their cart abandonment problem.

Callout: Before we get started ensure you have integrated your Facebook Conversions API with Lifesight and set it up. You can read more about how to sync events with Facebook Conversions API*Also, ensure you have checked the “Add to Cart” box as this is what you want to track

  1. To setup dynamic product ads on Facebook, you need four things:
    1. An event telling which users have viewed a product
    2. An event telling which users have added products to their carts
    3. An event telling which users have completed the purchase
    4. A product feed showcasing the product they viewed with its image and additional details
  2. For accuracy, target an “add to cart” event with a broad product group. To accomplish this, ensure you either retarget based on product ID or product category.Setting up targeting on Facebook ads
  3. Now, start a new Catalog Sales campaign on Facebook Ads ManagerStarting a new Catalog Sales campaign on Facebook Ads Manager
  4. Now link the campaign with the product catalog you set up, name it and edit how it interacts with your catalog.Linking the campaign with the product catalog on Facebook
  5. Next, link the event data source you configured Facebook Conversion API to send events to your Sales Catalog.Linking the even data source to catalog
  6. And as a last step configure the audience rules. Since we are solving for cart abandonment, retarget users who have added products to their cart but haven’t checked out.Setting up targeting on Facebook
  1. Head back to Lifesight and click on the Attribution tab in the left sidebar.Lifesight attribution tab
  2. Scroll down to the channel breakdown window and select Facebook under the “Channels” tab.Analyzing Facebook Ads on Lifesight
  3. Select the campaign you want to analyze. You will be able to track multiple metrics like clicks, impressions, channel revenue, ROAS and other. Based on the performance of the campaign, optimize it accordingly.Campaign level analysis of FB ads on Lifesight

When the Facebook CAPI is seamlessly integrated with Lifesight, it becomes a game changer in addressing the challenges associated with precise conversion tracking within the ever-evolving landscape of digital advertising. This robust server-to-server integration allows for the direct transmission of customer data to Facebook, effectively circumventing common obstacles such as ad blockers and privacy settings. As a result, businesses can not only significantly enhance their conversion tracking capabilities but also slash acquisition costs and optimize campaign performance.The combination of Facebook’s CAPI and Lifesight empowers businesses by granting them better control over their data. This, in turn, enables them to execute more effective advertising campaigns, ultimately elevating their digital marketing efforts in a rapidly digital world.To get a first-hand look at how you can get the best of Facebook’s Conversion API, schedule a demo with Lifesight today.